Halo: The Heat of Battle
by 99Clouds
Summary: This is a story about two marines and their journey through the events of Halo as they fight side by side with Johnson and Master Chief. R&R PLEASE! This is my first Fanfiction!


35

Elias awoke with a start as an explosion shook the Pillar of Autumn. _Where am I_? He thought. It all came back to him then, _I am part of the UNSC. I am a marine and I'm on the Pillar of Autumn._ He jumped up from his bunk and quickly strapped on his standard marine armor. He picked up his MA5B assault rifle, M6D pistol, and a few extra clips from his desk. Thoughts of confusion raced through his mind as he pulled on his boots and exited the room. He looked down the hallway to see other marines scrambling out of their rooms yelling out. He looked to his left to see his combat partner, Ben Graham, running to his side.

"Elias, what's going on!"

Elias looked into Ben's eyes and saw fear, "I don't know Ben. Lets go up to the bridge and find out."

Ben nodded and Elias started trotting in the direction of the bridge. Suddenly another explosion rocked the Pillar of Autumn and knocked Elias and Ben to the ground. Over the intercom system a panicked voice yelled, "They're coming through the door! AHHH!"

Ben looked at Elias and looked even more scared. Elias felt a trickle of sweat run down his back. He stood and helped Ben to his feet.

"Come on, the bridge isn't too far away!" Elias said running down the hall. Ben followed.

Elias came to the end of the hall and turned the corner, but stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him, standing about five yards away, was a pack of three orange aliens, standing about five feet tall. They were known as grunts. _The Covenant. That's what's happening. We're being attacked by the Covenant,_ Elias thought. He raised his assault rifle and let out a short controlled burst. One of the grunts fell to the ground with a yelp as its blue blood splattered the floor. The other two grunts jumped in surprise and started to run away. Ben flew around the corner and almost smashed into Elias.

" Don't just stand there Elias! Shoot them!" Ben yelled raising his rifle.

Elias fired at the backs of the fleeing targets and yelled back over the gunfire, "I was, until you nearly knocked me over!" The grunt Elias was shooting at, fell to the ground clutching its back. Ben let out a burst of automatic fire and downed the remaining grunt in a matter of seconds.

"That's the last of them in this area," Elias said sliding in a new clip. Ben did the same and responded, "So the Covenant are invading. I thought they would leave us alone after glassing Reach. I guess that was just a blind hope though."

Elias nodded in agreement then said, "Come on Ben, we should find Captain Keyes." Ben and Elias continued down the hall, passing the escape pods and Elias had an itching sensation to enter one and get out of there. The two marines entered a darker area that was filled with metal barrels. They stumbled around the barrels and came out of the dark to see a sliding door that was jammed halfway open. Elias ducked down and looked at the other side. An engineer in a blue suit was kneeling on the ground with his head in his arms and he was yelling, "I'm a cowardly fool!" Blue plasma burned the deck around the engineer and Elias saw a blue Elite charging the engineer and firing. Elias quickly rolled under the door and stood up and smashed the Elite in the face with his assault rifle. The Elite's shields flared and it let out a menacing roar. Elias charged again and smacked the Elite, knocking its shields out completely. The enraged Elite jumped forward and swung its plasma rifle at Elias. Elias sidestepped it and Ben, who had rolled under the door, open fired on it and brought it down with a couple well placed shots to the head. Elias wiped the purple blood from his armor and helped the engineer up.

"You okay?" Elias asked.

The engineer nodded, "Yes, I think so. Thank you for saving me. All I had was a pistol and I thought I was a goner. A big green robotic looking thing ran by me a few minuets ago, punched the Elite in the face and then left me to my doom. I think it was a Spartan, but I didn't think there was any of them left!"

_The Spartans. Legendary warriors named after the Greek soldiers, one of those could certainly turn the tides_, Elias thought.

Ben put a hand on the frightened engineers shoulder, "You should get to safety. Find out who's organizing the escape pods and get on one."

The engineer nodded and hurried away. Elias turned to Ben and said, "Shall we continue?"

The two continued down the route towards the bridge, Ben slowed down a bit while going though one hallway that was dark and filled with human blood.

"Holy crap, what happened here?" He asked.

"No time Ben, lets keep going," Elias said. They continued on until they got to a large room that had a raging fire fight in it. Elias ducked behind a human metal shield and open fired at the charging grunts. Ben lobbed a frag grenade and took out one of the Elite's shields. The other two marines quickly took advantage of this and plastered the blue Elite with hot lead. The grunts yelled out, "They got Elite! RUN!" Elias chuckled to himself at the grunts high pitched voices. He stood up and pulled his pistol out and downed the grunts in rapid head shots. The remaining Elite charged them stupidly and Ben and the other two marines drained their clips into it.

After the Elite went down one of the marines took off his helmet and wiped sweat from his forehead, "Whew, thanks guys."

"Any idea what's going on here?" Elias asked.

The marine shrugged, "I don't know, I was assigned to protect this area along with my combat buddy, Matt here." The other marine gave Elias and Ben a little wave.

"Well we're going to the bridge and see what's going on and if we can help," Elias said.

"All right, be careful and thanks again," the marine said.

Elias and Ben went through a room adjoining the one they had just been in and passed a couple wounded marines who looked like they weren't going to make it. They exited that room and went down another hall into another hallway that had another fire fight in it. They helped the marines kill the squadron of grunts that were charging and Elias said a thankful prayer that there weren't any Elites.

They were almost to the bridge now and on the final hallway, Elias turned the corner and bumped into a something large and hard. Elias stumbled backward and looked up. A large green robotic looking thing was standing in front of them. It looked like a man covered in green armor with a helmet and a golden visor that covered its face. It was huge. I must have been eight feet tall.

"Do you have any rounds for the M6D pistol?" It said in a surprisingly quiet voice. Elias silently handed it three clips.

"Thanks," It said, then it trotted off.

"Was that…a Spartan?" Ben asked in an awed voice.

"I think so," Elias said feeling equally awed.

"Come on, Captain Keyes is just around the corner," Ben said.

The two marines entered the bridge, which was small but sufficient, and came to a halt in front of the Captain.

Elias threw a quick salute, "Elias Witherow reporting for duty sir!" Ben quickly imitated Elias.

Keyes turned to the two soldiers. He looked tired. Twenty-six years of service could do that to a man.

"At ease," he sighed.

"Sir…was that…a Spartan?" Ben asked.

Keyes chuckled, "I see you ran into the Master Chief. Yes he's a Spartan. The last of them. We took him aboard and hoped to divert the Covenant troops away from Earth. Seems it worked."

"How can we help?" Elias asked.

"That battle was over before it even began," Keyes said running a hand through his graying hair, "I'm going to take the Pillar of Autumn and ram it into Halo. I suggest you find an escape pod and get the hell out of here."

Halo, Elias remembered getting briefed on that. It was a world that was a lot like Earth. It was as if a skinny strip of the Earth had been torn away and curled up so that the ends touched.

"Sir! Permission to stay with you?" Ben asked.

Keyes smiled tiredly, "No, thank you for your courage though, it helps more than you know."

"Captain, is there anything else? I feel so…helpless. Just running away like this, it's not what I'm used to," Elias said.

"There is nothing you can do. I suggest you two get to a pod ASAP. I don't know how much longer we have," Keyes said.

"All right…well good luck sir," Ben said. Keyes smiled and turned back to his navigation screen.

Elias and Ben left the room feeling a sense that no matter what they did, it wouldn't matter.

The two marines entered the mess hall and saw a wave of Covenant pouring in through the doors at the other end of the room.

"What are they doing this close to the bridge?" Ben yelled as he raised his assault rifle and open fired.

"I don't know! We need help though!" Elias said pulling out his pistol and capping a couple grunts in the head.

Ben shifted his position behind a wall and Elias pulled a frag out and let it fly. It exploded next to a scarlet Elite and knocked its shields out. The Elite roared, but Elias silenced it in a few head shots.

Ben reloaded and then yelled, "Cover me!" Elias pulled his assault rifle out and pulled the trigger. Ben ran over to the opposite side of the room and ducked behind a corner. Elias slid in a new clip and quickly looked over the field of battle and saw that there was about six grunts left and two Elites, both blue. Out of no where, a stream of plasma found Elias and it struck him in the side. He grinded his teeth together and suppressed the scream that was crawling up his throat.

Ben pulled the pin on a frag and let it fly. With a loud explosion, the grenade denoted and killed four of the grunts and knocked one of the Elites shields out. Elias smiled to himself at Ben's good throw. He quickly aimed at the Elite and emptied twenty rounds into its body. Ben in the mean time had dusted the few remaining grunts and was in a peek-and-shoot fire fight with the last Elite. Elias came around behind the Elite, expertly flanking it, and knocked it in the back of its head with the butt of his pistol. It let out a wailing cry of defeat before dropping to the deck, dead.

Ben pumped his fist into the air, "Aw, hell yea!"

"You okay Ben?" Elias asked. Ben nodded as he checked his assault rifle, "Course I am!" Elias sat down on the ground and wiped sweat from his forehead, "That was a close one. Good shooting Ben."

"Elias, you're bleeding," Ben said suddenly noticing the red liquid that was seeping in-between Elias's armor. Elias looked down at his side, "Oh, so I am. The bloody Elite shot me. I'll live."

"We need to patch it. Here I got some Freeze Foam," Ben said pulling out a dull gray can. Elias gingerly removed his armor and looked at his side. It was slightly burned and bloody. He had been injured worse during his time in the UNSC. Ben lifted Elias's shirt and sprayed the foam over the wound. Elias sucked in his breath as the foam freezed over the bloody flesh.

"Thank God for the man who invented this stuff," Ben said as Elias put his armor back on.

"How far are we from the escape pods?" Elias asked, standing.

"Are you thinking about running boy?" Elias instantly recognized the gruff voice and he turned to greet Sergeant Johnson.

"It's our orders from the Captain sir," Elias said.

The black man nodded, "I know, I got the same order. I'll escort you ladies to the pods, see'in you don't have someone to hold your hand."

Elias felt a wave of hope fill him. Sergeant Johnson had been in the service almost as long as Keyes had. He was a battle beaten warrior who had developed an excellent strategic mind on the field of battle. Elias felt a certain security standing next to the man.

"That would be very helpful Sergeant," Ben said.

"You boys looked like you cleaned house here," Johnson said looking at the Covenant corpses.

"We had a small battle here sir, but a big victory," Elias said.

"I see, well lets go before Captain Keyes drives this ship into Halo," Johnson said.

Elias and Ben nodded as they followed Sergeant Johnson out of the room. The small party double timed down the unusually quiet corridors and had no problems until they came into a darker area filled with grunts.

"Fire your weapons!" Johnson yelled as he laid waste to the startled grunts. Elias and Ben quickly raised their guns and open fired. A stray plasma shot struck Ben's armor, but it deflected it away leaving a burned mark on his chest plate. After the last grunt had fallen, Johnson slammed in a fresh clip into his smoking assault rifle. Elias looked at the charred mark on Ben's armor and smiled, "You got lucky, Ben."

Sergeant Johnson glanced at the burn mark and said, "Was the bolt that hit you green?" Ben nodded. "It was a plasma pistol then. They don't do much against our armor, unless it's a charged shot. But that doesn't mean you should get careless, it's just a reassurance."

"Sir, do you have any spare clips fore the assault rifle?" Elias asked.

"What? You're out? Ya trigger happy faggot, reserve your ammo boy! Take aimed shots! Don't close your eyes and squeeze the trigger! Your gun isn't your dick!" Johnson yelled.

Elias pulled out his M6D looking crestfallen. Muttering, Johnson pulled out three clips and handed them to Elias, "You wouldn't last two seconds on the battle field using that. Here take these."

Elias took them and smiled, "Thank you sir, I'll use them sparingly."

"I think the pods are this way," Ben said walking over to a clear sliding door. The door led down the maintenance halls. Inside was dark.

"That they are, I'll take the lead, you'd probably cry for your mommy cause it's dark," Johnson said going through the door and walking down the tunnel. Elias and Ben were quick to follow. After a few dead ends, Johnson successfully led them out another door into a brightly lit hallway. They walked down it and passed a few dead grunts and Elites. Someone had already been through here.

"This is where an escape pod should be," Johnson said looking into a hatch and scanning an odd purple interior.

"What's in there?" Ben asked.

Johnson pulled his head out, "It looks like it was a Covenant boarding craft. They landed here after the escape pod was either launched or destroyed. We go out and they come in." Ben looked inside and saw an odd looking clear box at the far end of the ship. Ben walked over to it and could see a red glowing ball of…something, inside the box.

"DON"T TOUCH THAT!" Johnson barked. Ben jumped away from it and asked, "What is it?"

"It's an overshield. It will give an Elite an extra two layers of shield, but all it will do to you is shock you until you die," Johnson said as Ben backed out of the small ship.

"ENEMY!"

Elias turned at the sound of the grunts high pitched screech. Elias raised his assault rifle and filled the grunts face with lead. Johnson looked at the corpse and said, "Good shooting. I think we should move on."

They walked down the wide hallway and followed it until it led to a large room with metal stairs in the middle of it. Up above on the open second floor, was the green armored Spartan. Master Chief was what Keyes had called him. Marines on the first floor were fighting off a battalion of Covenant reinforcements that had just arrived and up in the second floor, Master Chief was shooting everything in sight. Elias watched in awe as the tall warrior meleed a scarlet Elite, killing it, then picking up a plasma grenade, he grabbed a fleeing grunt by the neck and stuck the grenade on its face and threw the screaming alien down into the tide of Covenant forces. The grenade exploded, causing the plasma grenades the grunts had on them to explode and resulting in what the marines called "a room clearer".

"Holy SHIT!" Ben yelled. Master chief looked down at Ben and if they could have seen his face, Ben would have bet he would be smiling.

Master Chief disappeared from sight and Elias heard bursts of automatic fire.

"Put your eyes back in your head boys, this ain't over yet," Johnson said as he climbed the stairs.

Elias and Ben were quick to follow, but when Elias saw that Johnson wasn't going the same way as Master Chief he asked, "Sergeant, where are we going?"

"The escape pods of course!"

Elias was puzzled, "Then where is the Chief going?" Sergeant Johnson came to a locked door and he punched in the code before answering, "I don't know, but something tells me he'll be fine."

Johnson ran through the door and on the other side was a small room with four hatches leading off to four different escape pods. A couple marines were in the room already and were in the process of entering the pods. Each pod held six people and the pilot. Elias and Ben crammed into one followed by Sergeant Johnson. Elias sat down next to a marine who looked scared and Ben said opposite him. Johnson closed the latch after the pilot had crawled in and sealed it. The pilot sat down in his seat and started the little craft. Suddenly there was a jerk and the craft was airborne, headed straight for Halo.

"I like quick starts," the pilot said. The marine next to Elias gave a nervous laugh. Johnson sat down next to Ben and strapped himself in. Elias closed his eyes and thought about what was going to happen next when a bump jerked him back to the present.

"Damn it," the pilot mumbled, "We're entering Halo's atmosphere. We're coming in pretty fast. Hang on!"

Elias almost jerked out of his seatbelt when the next jerk came. The craft started to vibrate violently and Elias saw white light fill the windshield of the pod. Then the ground came rushing up on them, faster and faster. Too fast. Elias saw a large gray structure rush by them as the escape pod hit the ground hard. Across him, Ben jerked forward and coughed up blood that sprayed onto Elias's armor. Elias thought he was going to die as a massive bump jerked the ship up and Elias felt like he was floating. The pod hit the ground again and smashed into something hard. The door to the pod burst open and supplies fell out. Slowly Elias unlatched his restraining harness and stood shakily.

"Everybody okay?" Johnson asked. Elias looked at the marine who had been sitting next to him. His neck was twisted at an odd angle and blood was flowing from his mouth. Elias quickly checked the man's pulse. Nothing.

Ben stood and coughed up more blood. Elias couldn't see the pilot, but the front windshield was covered in blood. Not a hopeful sign. The marines filed out of the pod and looked around. To the right lay a large structure, Elias recognized it as the one that had flown by the windshield, and in the center of the structure was a large bluish glow. The marines took a step back as the bluish glow suddenly flew up and streamed towards the sky like a big blue pillar. As soon as it had happened though, it stopped and became the blue ball again.

"We should base camp at that structure until we can contact somebody," Johnson said. He picked up some of the supplies off the ground and started to walk towards the structure

Elias thumbed his radio, but only got empty static. Ben wiped the blood from his chin and picked up his assault rifle. Elias grabbed his and followed the marines to the gray structure. When they reached it they climbed a ramp that led to a flat upper area that had a good view of the hills.

Johnson dumped the pile of supplies he had been carrying as soon as he reached the top. Elias slumped down next to the pile and felt his body aching. He pulled off his helmet and tossed it next to him. His hair was matted with sweat. Ben plopped down next to him and laid down his assault rifle. He leaned against the wall behind him, "That was to close for me."

"That poor marine," Elias said thinking about the man who had been sitting next to him, "I can't get his face out of my mind."

Sergeant Johnson walked over to them, "How you boys feelin?" Ben gave him a thumbs up. Johnson seemed satisfied and walked over to look out at the valley. Elias could see from behind that his body tensed. He spun around, "Lock and load marines, we got company!"

Elias looked out at the sky and saw a Covenant drop ship on the horizon. Ben stood and pulled Elias to his feet. They grabbed a few clips of ammo and a couple frags each, then they walked over to the low wall and stood next Johnson. Elias pulled out his pistol. This seemed a good spot for a little sniping. He checked the little scope that was mounted on the barrel and made sure the 2x zoom worked. It did. Suddenly, from behind, two banshees screamed over them. Elias open fired at them, but Johnson put his hand on the barrel and lowered the pistol and said, "Don't. They're not shooting at us, and look they're going around that mountain. They won't be bothering us."

The Covenant drop ship was now very close and it turned to in the air and started to land. The marines quickly formed a line at the edge of the low wall. _Whatever the odds, at least we have the advantage of ground, _Elias thought. The drop ship landed and grunts piled out of the craft, followed by a scarlet and blue Elite. Jackals too! Elias could see their bluish green shields glowing as they advanced. Sergeant Johnson open fired and downed a grunt. Elias took aim for a Jackal and plastered its shield with fire. The Jackal rolled to the side and Elias grinned. This was just what he had counted on. Elias squeezed the trigger and purple blood splattered from the dead Jackals neck. Ben whipped out a frag and lobbed it at the blue Elite. The grenade went off, but before Elias could shoot the it, it dropped down to the ground, blood spurting from its head. Coming from behind the Covenant, Elias could make out a lone figure sprinting towards the battle. Master Chief. The sun glinted off his armor as he scooped up a plasma grenade without slowing, and activated it, throwing it with all his might at the scarlet Elite. It landed on the alien's chest and it let out a roar of panic before the explosion blew its body into the air.

Johnson, invigorated by master Chief's arrival, let out a victory yell and charged down the ramp towards the Covenant, followed by Ben and the rest of the marines.

As Elias got to the ground, he pulled out his assault rifle and stuffed a grunt full of hot lead. Elias moved on and glanced at Ben who was meeleing an Elite, knocking its shield out then shooting it in the stomach. The Elite curled over and died. Elias got to the remaining Jackal and knocked its shield aside then he stuffed his pistol into the Jackals neck and shot it. Blood poured from the other side of the dead alien as it tumbled over.

Elias slid out his empty clip and popped in a new one. He walked over to Sergeant Johnson who was talking to Master Chief. Elias came up just as Johnson was saying, "It's a mess sir, we're scattered all over these hills."

Master Chief looked at Elias and Elias gave him a little nod. Master Chief returned it. Where was Ben? Then Elias heard Ben over the radio, "We got more Covenant coming in, I could use some help over here!" Master Chief, without a word, sprinted towards the other side of the structure to where Ben was.

The other marines followed him, and Elias picked up a few plasma grenades. He felt a sharp pain in his side as he started to run after his comrades. He stopped and looked down at his armor. He was bleeding again.

"Damn it!" Elias yelled as he limped up the ramp of the structure to get some Freeze Foam. He reached the top where he could hear the sounds of battle coming from his left. He saw a Covenant drop ship take off and head out for space. He said a silent prayer for the marines. He popped off his armor and sprayed the foam on his burst wound. He hoped the stuff would stay frozen this time. When he was finished he clicked on his chest plate and as he was about to join the battle below him, when he saw another drop ship landing on his right. Elias quickly thumbed his radio, "A bandits dropping in behind us, they're trying to flank us!"

Elias picked up a frag and chucked it at the ship just as the Covenant poured out of it. The grenade exploded and killed a Jackal. Elias looked down the ramp and saw Master Chief sprinting towards an Elite. He tackled it and stuck a plasma grenade to its face. He moved on to a grunt and meeled it in the stomach. Elias saw directly below him, Ben charging a group of grunts, led by a scarlet Elite. Ben killed the grunts in a matter of seconds, but as he reloaded his weapon the Elite swung at Ben with its plasma rifle and knocked him down. Panic flashed across Elias and with a yell, he jumped off the structure and crashed into the Elite, thirty feet below him. Elias felt a jolt shoot up his legs as his boots smashed into the Elite's chest. A sharp crack as they hit the ground, assured Elias that he had killed it. Elias lay on his back gasping for breath when Ben rushed over to him.

"That was insane! What were you thinking! You could have died!"

Elias sucked in air and smiled, "You'd done the same for me."

Ben smiled back, "Yea, I would have. Come on," Ben said pulling Elias to his feet, "There's still a few of them left."

Elias looked over across the field to see Master Chief shooting up a grunt with a needler. The grunt squealed as thirty rounds exploded into its body. The Chief seemed satisfied and turned to the other side of the structure, just as another drop ship landed. Ben and Elias trotted over to it, right behind Master Chief.

Ben pulled out his pistol and shot a grunt in the face just as the ramp came down on the drop ship. Elias picked up a plasma grenade and threw it at a red armored grunt. It landed on its arm and it panicked, running into a small pack of Jackals and screaming, "Get it off! Get it off!" The grenade exploded, killing the Jackals and tossing the dead grunt through the air.

Elias looked to his left and saw a marine having trouble with a scarlet Elite. Elias sprinted over and fired at the Elite's exposed back. Its shields flared and it turned to Elias. Elias dove to the side to avoid the blue plasma being shot at him and the marine took this opportunity to run up behind the Elite and meele it in the back, killing it on the spot. Elias stood up and looked over towards Ben to see him shoot the final grunt in the chest. Ben reloaded and saw that all the Covenant were dead.

Elias sighed and suddenly realized how fatigued he was. He took off his helmet and wiped the sweat from his face. Cortana was saying something over the radio and it sounded like she was talking to Foehammer. Soon a Pelican flew over the hills and came to a gentle landing after dropping its Warthog.

Elias immediately sprinted over to Sergeant Johnson and said, "Sir, permission to go with the chief!"

After a moment, Johnson nodded and said, "Your combat partner better go with you." Elias found Ben and they walked over to the Warthog. Master Chief immediately jumped into the driver seat and Elias timidly jumped up into the gunner spot. Ben walked around the Hog and sat down next to the Chief. Master Chief looked back at Elias and gave him a slight nod of the head before gunning the engine.

The Warthog bounced over the hills and Elias could see a cliff coming at them fast. The Chief make a sharp right hand turn and led the Hog down a pathway. He did a one eighty then, and Elias saw a huge, dark tunnel. Master Chief gunned it straight into it.

_How does he know where he's going?_ Elias thought. Then he remembered, _he's got Cortana with him._ The Chief sped them quickly through the tunnel and after crossing a jump that Elias was sure they wouldn't make, they came out into a massive room filled with Covenant.

"Spray them E!" Ben yelled as he open fired on a small group of grunts. Elias pulled the trigger of the huge fifty cal gun and smiled in glee as they rounds tore through an Elite in seconds. The Chief swung the Warthog to his right, running over two Jackals in the process, and came to a stop a the foot of a skinny ramp that led up into who knows where.

"Keep shootin," was all Master Chief said before sprinting into the darkness, up the ramp.

"You heard the Chief!" Elias yelled at Ben. Ben hopped out of the Hog and pulled out his M6D pistol. He squeezed the trigger three times and took out a charging grunt. Elias swung the mounted gun over to his left and silenced an advancing Jackal.

"Over to the right Elias!" Ben yelled.

Elias looked to where Ben was pointing at and saw two Elites making a bee line for Ben. Elias unloaded on them and the two aliens dropped to the ground in a pool of blood.

"What's the Chief doing?" Elias asked as he nailed a grunt in the chest.

"I don't know-to your left!-he just disappeared!" Ben yelled as he stuck a Jackal in the foot. The Jackal threw up its arms and ran but the explosion killed it and a few grunts that were stupid enough to try an get it off him.

Suddenly Master Chief was back at the wheel of the Warthog. Ben hopped in the passenger side and kicked a grunt in the face as he did so. The Warthog's engines screamed as the Chief floored it and sped across a bridge that looked like it was made of light beams.

The Hog bounced over a small ramp and onto an upper level. The Chief directed the vehicle around a couple sharp turns and then out into the sun and grass again. Elias breathed in the fresh air and was happy he was out of the dark tunnel. Up front, Ben seemed to relax a bit also. Over the hills they sped and up a big hill. At the top, Master Chief directed the Warthog across a small creek and came to a stop at a crashed escape pod. Ben jumped out and rushed to see if there were any survivors. The way Ben recoiled when he looked inside, and then drop to his knees and threw up on the grass, Elias guessed that there weren't any…alive.

"There is survivors. Cortana can pick up there vital signs," Master Chief said confidently. Elias could only hope.

He found a sniper on the ground and he traded his pistol for it. It looked in good enough condition for being in a crash. Ben stood up and wiped his chin, "I'm better now. I just don't do well with lots of gore." Elias nodded his head in understanding and chose not to take a look at what was in the escape pod.

"We need to move on. The survivors are close," The Chief said climbing back into the driver seat. Ben and Elias jumped up onto the Hog. After taking a sharp left, the Hog climbed another steep hill and as they cleared the top, Elias could see several large structures that looked similar to the one he had just been at. Great, that meant more Covenant. The Chief stopped the Warthog, hopped out, and without a word, sprinted towards one of structures. Elias pulled out his sniper and balanced it in his hands.. He had always been good with one of these.

"Go ahead and kill a few Elias, I think I'll follow Master Chief," Ben said.

"Ok Ben, I'll cover you," Elias said raising the rifle to his cheek. He activated the 10x magnification and peered through the scope. Nothing….nothing….there! A scarlet Elite. Elias smiled as he got its head in his crosshairs. Just as he was about to pull the trigger though, the Elite dropped to the ground, blood spurting from its neck. Master Chief walked into view, holding a pistol. He gave Elias a wave as if to say, "Ha ha, I got him first!" But Elias knew the Chief wasn't like that. Elias scanned the buildings again and saw Ben kick a grunt in the balls, if they had any, and then shoot it. Coming from behind Ben was a blue Elite. It looked like Ben didn't see it. Elias aimed at it and just as he pulled the trigger, Ben turned around at the sound of the Elite's footsteps. Elias's heart tore out of his chest_, OH MY GOSH, DID I JUST SHOOT BEN? _Elias looked through his scope to see the Elite was dead and Ben was slowly turning around to look at Elias, wearing his signature lip face and shaking his head.

Elias chuckled in spite of himself. He had taught Ben how to make that face in their teenage years and he had used it ever since. Ben and Elias had known each other since they were young and had been best buddies ever since. Elias had joined the UNSC first and after convincing his parents, Ben joined also.

Elias quickly brought his mind back to the present and he scanned the area again. Master Chief was no where to be seen and Ben was laying waste to a couple grunts that were panicking. Elias spotted an Elite that was preparing a plasma grenade and shot it in a fast head shot. _Ok, enough of this_, Elias thought putting his sniper away. He pulled out his assault rifle and rushed to join Ben. When Elias reached his combat partner, he was kicking a dead grunt and yelling, "Yea, that's right! You don't mess with me!"

"You may want to watch your back instead of wasting time on dead grunts," Elias said walking to Ben's side.

Ben looked up, "Oh hey, aw whatever, this grunt gave me one hell of a hard time and I got a little ticked. You got lucky that sniper shot didn't kill me!"

Elias waved him off, "Pah-leeze. I had that Elite pawned from the start. Say where did the Chief go?"

Footsteps from behind answered Elias's question. Master Chief came walking up behind them followed by a group of five marines.

"There you are," Elias said.

"Foehammer is coming to get these marines. I want you and Ben to go with them," Master Chief said in that quiet voice of his.

"What? No way sir! I want to fight along side you!" Elias protested.

Master Chief raised a hand, silencing Elias, "You're going. I have two marines who volunteered to help me. And besides, you're bleeding again." Elias looked at his side to see blood leaking through his armor.

_Damn Freeze Foam, can't even hold one wound together_, Elias thought. Ben stepped up, "Sir, I'm not wounded and I would really like to go." The Chief shook his head, "I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. You are Elias's combat partner and you have to stay by his side." Ben nodded but looked disappointed.

Suddenly, Pelican Echo 419 flew overhead and came to a gentle landing twenty yards from the structure that Elias and Ben were on.

"Come on, lets go," Ben said. Elias nodded and followed Ben and the other marines to the Pelican. As Elias boarded the open back, he glanced back over towards Master Chief and saw him roar off in the Warthog.

Elias felt angry that he was being left out of the action and he snapped off his chest plate and threw it into the back of the ship.

"Hey, take it easy Elias. I know you're mad that we're getting left out, but we'll get another chance to fight," Ben said.

Elias knew Ben was right, but he still felt angry as a medic came out from the cockpit and said, "Let me take look at that wound. It looks like it could use some stitching."

"Don't bother," Elias said waving him off, "It'd just burst open again in my next skirmish."

The medic nodded, "Yes, you're probably right. Here, let me use this," The med said as he fished something out of his bag. Elias looked out the back of the Pelican and watched the land rush by as the medic worked on him.

"Where are we going?" said one of the marines.

Another one who was sitting to Ben's left answered, "I heard that we had set up some sort of camp in the hills. Maybe that's where we're going."

Ben had taken the green chip from his helmet and was watching his battle on a small portable CP. He let out a yell and said, "Elias, that bullet you shot from your sniper came inches from my face! I watched it on slow-mo and you can see the bullet pass me! It is really cool!"

Elias smiled and then grunted as the medic finished on him. "There," he said, "Good as new! Be careful next time!"

"Yea, I'll remember that the next time I get shot at," Elias said rolling his eyes as he retrieved his chest plate from the corner. He wiped the blood off it and snapped it back on. Ben had put the green chip back in his helmet and he was now humming to himself.

"What song you thinkin about?" Elias asked.

Ben stopped humming and looked at Elias, "What? Oh, I was thinking about that one band we used to listen to…I think it was called…Drowning Pool? Yea that's it."

One of the marines shook his head, "Mate, Drowning Pool is so old school. You should listen to Fire Gate. Now that is some good stuff."

"I've heard of them, they scream way to much," Elias said.

"Well I like em," the marine replied.

Over the loud speaker, Foehammer's voice boomed, "We're approaching are destination. Welcome home."

Elias looked out the back of the Pelican and saw that they were flying over some large hills, though not quite mountains. Dust flew up as the Pelican gently landed in on top of a hill. Elias saw makeshift tents were pitched up and a cave that had a cloth "door". In the center of the camp stood a large stick with the a black flag at the top, that said "UNSC" in red letters. Marines had gathered around the Pelican and were curiously looking to see if they recognized anyone.

Ben was first to jump out of the back, but he was quickly followed by the rest of the marines.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you boys made it out of there alright."

Elias grinned as Sergeant Johnson walked up to him and patted him on the back.

"Yes sir. We would have stayed with the Chief too if my side hadn't started bleeding like a frickin waterfall," Elias said.

"You make it sound worse than it was," Ben said rolling his eyes.

"I was being sarcastic Ben. Duh," Elias retorted.

"Please," Johnson said, "No bitching."

Ben and Elias smiled as they wondered over to their tents and laid down to get some much needed rest. After about two hours, Elias felt himself being shaken awake. He opened his eyes to see Johnson.

"What is it sir?" Elias asked alarmed.

"Bad news boy, Keyes has been taken captive by the Covenant. I'm organizing a squad to attempt a rescue mission. The Master Chief is going to lead us," Johnson said pulling

Elias up.

"Are we going like, now?" Elias asked strapping on his armor.

"Yes marine, we are!" Johnson said helping Elias with the back straps. The sergeant handed Elias a sniper rifle and said, "Here. I think you're going to need this." Elias took it and stepped out of the tent to see that is was still night out. He could see Master Chief doing a run down on his weapons. Elias walked over to him and snapped a salute, "Sir! Are you really going to lead us Chief?" The tall Spartan nodded without looking up. Elias gave up on trying to start a conversation and found Ben, hopping up into a Pelican. Elias climbed up and sat down next to him. They were the only two in their at the moment.

"I can't believe Keyes is a captive!" Ben said still looking sleepy. Elias nodded in agreement.

"Are you feeling okay E?" Ben asked giving Elias a worried look.

Elias smiled, "Yea, just really tired." The Pelican's engines roared to life and the floor beneath Ben and Elias's boots. Marines started boarding the Pelican and Master Chief took a seat across from them. Sergeant Johnson jumped in and the Pelican lifted. Elias closed his eyes and tried to rest as the cold, dark land flew below. Cortana's voice sounded through everybody's radios, "The enemy has captured Captain Keyes and are holding him in a Covenant cruiser, the Truth and Reconciliation. The ship is currently holding position approximately three hundred meters from our position."

Elias asked, " So how do we get to the ship if it's in the air?"

Johnson was the one who answered, "There's a gravity lift that transports their troops and supplies. That's our ticket in." Soon enough, the Pelican was landing in a hilly area and Ben was eagerly looking out at the darkness while Elias sat next to him and was going over battle strategies. The Pelican landed and Elias hopped out of the ship behind Master Chief just as Johnson was barking, " Hit it marines, go, go, go, the Core ain't paying us by the hour!" Elias and Ben quickly ran behind the Chief and Johnson quickly gave orders for the snipers to go up onto a ledge while the assault team double timed it into a small valley. Elias walked up the ledge and saw Ben go with the sarge. Elias raised his sniper rifle and activated his night vision. He saw scores of Covenant patrolling the valley below him.

Master Chief was scanning the area and Elias waited for him to take the first shot, Killing a grunt in a turret, before squeezing the trigger of his own weapon. Ben down below him was in the middle of a fierce firefight with three grunts. Elias swung his sniper over to one of the grunts and shot it in the chest. Ben took this time to charge the other two and kill them with ease.

The Master Chief had downed three Elites in rapid succession and Elias saw that he had just killed another one. Two marines were trying to shoot a Jackal, but couldn't get its shield out of the way. Elias held his breath and aimed for the small nook in the shield. He pulled the trigger and blood sprayed onto the inside of the Jackal's shield.

Ben down below had mounted a turret and was frying a fresh pack of grunt reinforcements. One of the grunts activated a plasma grenade and was about to throw it at Ben when Elias's sniper shot took it in the head. Elias hopped down from the ledge, seeing that Master Chief was no longer sniping, and pulled out his assault rifle to join his combat partner below.

"You saved my life back there man, thanks!" Ben said when Elias reached his side.

"That's what I'm here for," Elias said grinning and plastering a Jackal. The Chief was in the lead now and was sneaking up a side ridge towards the Covenant. Elias and the marines were right behind him. After about twenty paces, Master Chief signaled them to halt while he went in. Elias leaned against the cliff wall and waited until he heard a single sniper shot and the roar of a dieing Elite.

"Go marines, go!" Johnson yelled. Elias charged forward and rushed up a small hill to see a valley below and Master Chief in the middle, killing everything that got too close. Ben charged down the hill and meeled an Elite. It stumbled backwards clutching its middle as Ben hit it again. Johnson and the marines flooded the left side and battled off a group of grunts. That left the Chief and Ben in the valley with Elias standing at the top of it. Ben was still working on the Elite when another one, a scarlet Elite, started charging Ben from behind. Panic flashed through Elias and he charged the alien and dove into it tackling the Elite just before it smashed Ben in the back. Elias felt its shields flare and it burned Elias's skin. They came to a crashing to the ground with Elias on top, and Elias thought he was going to be torn limb from limb by the enraged alien when a large green boot came smashing down on the Elite's head, crushing it and causing blood to spray on Elias's face.

Elias looked up to see Master Chief, "Thanks Chief, I owe you."

The Chief nodded and pointed to Ben, "So does he." Ben looked sheepishly at Elias, "I get all caught up in the heat of battle and go nuts you know?"

Elias stood up, "That's fine Ben, just don't lose your head." Ben took it all in and nodded before saying, "Should we press on?" Master Chief was already in motion as he sprinted to Sergeant Johnson and helped him and the marines kill off the last of the grunts before racing around the corner of the cliff. Elias and Ben ran over to Johnson and he gave them an acknowledging nod before they followed the Chief. Elias stepped over a dead marine's body and felt sadness wash over him. The guy's face was missing. As the squad went around the corner, Elias saw the Chief snipe a grunt right out of his seat in a turret. The marines charged and open fired at the patrolling Covenant. Elias sniped an Elite as it walked over a hill and the marines circled around, left of the hill, at the cliff's edge. Ben was up front with Johnson when a plasma grenade landed out of no where, right in front of Elias and the marine next to him.

"GET DOWN!" Elias yelled and dove backward. The grenade exploded and Elias felt himself fly through the air as the force of it pushed him. Elias landed face first in the dirt. He felt stunned and achy, someone was screaming. Elias looked to his left and saw a marine holding his legs. His legs were cut off at the knee and he was holding the bleeding stumps and screaming, "MY LEGS ARE GONE! AHHHHHHH! OH GOD, MY LEGS ARE GONE!" Elias slowly stood and he felt someone was helping him up. Elias looked up and saw Ben.

"Thanks," Elias mumbled. Ben kneeled down next to the marine with his legs blown off and was about to help him when a blue stream of plasma took the screaming marine in the chest, killing him on the spot.

Ben said nothing, though his eyes were moist. Ben hated seeing his fellow marines die. A Covenant drop ship was coming in to Elias's left. Johnson and the three remaining marines were helping the Chief dust a few stragglers before the drop ship landed. Elias and Ben hurried over to them and joined their ranks just as the drop ship landed. The ramps dropped and Elias saw two Elites, three Jackals and four grunts.

Master Chief was on them like lighting. He threw a frag to weaken them, then charged in and unleashed hell. Elias found a M6D pistol on the ground and he picked it up and capped two grunts. Ben was firing at the Jackals as was Johnson. The Chief meeled the last Elite and just when Elias thought they could have a quick breather, more Covenant poured out from behind them in the valley.

"About face! FIRE!" Johnson said whipping around. Ben threw a frag and it bounced up into an Elite's face and exploded, blowing its head clean off. Purple blood spilled onto the ground and one of the grunts slipped on it and went down with a squeak. Elias took aim and shot it in the head. Master Chief was charging the single remaining Elite and he slide tackled it. He picked up a plasma grenade and stuck it. He dove away as the grenade denoted. Silence swept across the bloody battle field. Ben sat down on the ground and was silent. The three marines left, wondered off and sat down to ponder their own thoughts. Even Johnson looked fatigued. The Chief trotted off to the sarge and said quietly, "I'll clear out the gravity lift and wait for you their." Johnson nodded and the Chief ran off. Elias turned to say something to Ben only to see him shaking with silent tears. Elias walked off a distance and sat down on the ground. He felt bad for Ben though in his heart he knew that he was doing all he could to hold back his own tears.

Johnson walked over to Elias and sat down with a sigh, "War is a terrible thing boy."

Elias nodded, "That it is sir. How many we lose?"

"Two. Garret and Thomas. They were like brothers. Where one was, the other was their also. They were inseparable."

Elias was quiet for a time before saying, "Sir…when can we go home?"

Johnson smiled tiredly, "Home? That's a word I haven't heard for a long time. I don't know boy. I don't know how long their will be a home. The Covenant seem unbeatable. Thank God for the Chief. He may be are only hope."

Elias nodded as Ben walked over to them, his eyes still moist, "Hey, you mind if I join you? Thanks. I'm sorry bout that back there."

Johnson leaned forward, "Boy, there ain't nothing to be sorry about. There is no shame in mourning for the fallen. None." Ben smiled and wiped his eyes.

"I hate war," Elias said quietly. Ben nodded his head in agreement. Johnson stood and yelled, "Marines! Assemble!" The three marines who were sitting a good distance away walked slowly back over to their sarge.

Johnson had them line up and he barked out their names, "Witherow! Grahmn! Rosenbaum! Mendoza! Jenkins! Fredrick! All who heard their name called, give me a hooraw!" Elias smiled as he complied. Johnson was giving them a pep talk to raise their moral and it was working.

"Marines!" Johnson yelled, "We are going to go and help the Chief kick the Covenant's fat asses into their dicks! Now who's with me!"

"HOORAW!"

Johnson nodded, "That's right! Now move out!" The squad double timed it down the small valley and they ran into a large open area and Elias saw a huge purple gravity lift and Master Chief in the middle of it, fighting two Hunters at once. The Chief was fast as death. He meeled one Hunter in the stomach then spun and avoided a blow from the other one and turned to shoot it in the back with his pistol, killing it in one shot. The other Hunter let out a roar for his fallen comrade and charged the Chief. Master Chief sidestepped it and smashed it in the back of its head with his pistol. Bright orange blood gushed from the Hunters head and it tumbled over dead.

"That's why we need the Chief," Johnson mumbled half to himself. The squad of marines ran over to the gravity lift and Johnson snapped a salute, "Reporting as ordered Chief!" The Master Chief gave him a nod, but turned around at the sound of a engines. A Pelican was landing on the far side of the gravity lift and marines were pouring out. One of them ran up to the Chief and said, "We thought you could use some help sir." Elias could've sworn the Chief was smiling inside his helmet. The Chief walked to the center of the lift and waited for himself to be sucked up into the waiting ship above him. The marines quickly did the same.

Suddenly Elias felt himself being pulled up by an unknown force and Elias saw his feet leave the ground. On his right Ben yelled, "Wooooo heh-heh!" He actually seemed to be having fun. As fast as it had started though, the lift stopped and Elias found himself standing in a large dim room. It was quiet.

Over the radio Cortana said, "We're in. I've picked up Keyes transponders. He's no to far from here. No Covenant defenses detected."

"What? No Covenant? Huh, looks like nobody's home," Ben said. Suddenly a door opened and an cloaked Elite came roaring out holding a plasma sword. The marines open fired and brought it down just before it hit Johnson.

"No Covenant, you _had_ to open your mouth," Elias said. More Covenant poured out of the doors around them and Elias did all he could to keep them away. Clip after clip, grenade after grenade, and just when Elias was about to give up hope, they stopped. Ben was breathing hard and Elias realized that he was also. Dead bodies littered the ground. Blood was sprayed everywhere. Suddenly two Hunters came charging out of a large door that Elias hadn't noticed before.

"Aw shit!" Ben yelled as he open fired. The marines did the same and brought one of the huge aliens down in a matter of seconds. The other one was chasing the Chief and was soon killed via a well placed shot from the Chief.

Silence entombed the walls around them. Slowly the squad walked down the large corridor that the Hunters had come from and Elias saw that the exit had been sealed off.

"Wait here," said the Chief, "I'll find a way to open the doors." And with that, he was off. Elias sat down on the hard ground next to Ben.

"How many you get?" Elias asked.

Ben put his gun down before answering, "three grunts and three Jackals."

Elias nodded to himself and said, "Not bad. I got two grunts, a Jackal, and three Elites. One of em was a golden Elite too." Ben seemed impressed and Elias smiled. It had been a scarlet Elite, but oh well.

The marines were quietly talking among themselves and Elias wondered how long each of them would be alive. On the battle field, it was all chaos. You could be shooting a grunt in the back when a plasma shot hits you in the face out of no where. You always had to watch your back and try to hear what the sarge was saying through the screams and explosions.

"How long since you joined the UNSC?" Ben asked suddenly.

Elias sighed and tried to think, "Five years? Yea, five years. I was eighteen. Training camp was hell. I was always getting screamed at. I seemed to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I remember my first combat partner too. Rob. He was a good guy, but always stealing the ladies from me."

"Did he get re-assigned once I became your mate?" Ben asked.

"No," Elias said quietly, "He was killed in a grenade accident two days before you came." Ben was quiet after that for some time.

"How did you convince your parents to let you join the UNSC?" Elias asked trying to change the subject.

Ben seemed to be eager off the subject also because he quickly answered, "It wasn't to hard after I told my mom that you were going. She said I'd have someone to watch my butt and keep me out of trouble."

Elias grinned and put on a stupid face, "I don't know about keeping you out of trouble dude, but I'm defiantly keeping my eyes on your buttocks!" Ben burst out laughing before Johnson told them to shut the hell up.

A loud creaking brought everyone's minds back to the present and Elias jumped up to see the sealed doors opening. Inside the doors was complete chaos. Master Chief was fighting a huge posse of Covenant as they poured from countless doorways. Elias hung back with sarge while the other marines rushed forward. Johnson and Elias pulled out their snipers and started picking off aliens. Ben was re-loading his clip when he felt something slam into his back. He spun around and saw a Jackal had hit him in the back with his shield. Ben knocked the shield aside and grabbed the alien back the neck. With a loud snap, Ben broke the Jackal's neck. He threw the carcass into a grunt that caused it to stumble back before Elias shot it in the back of the head.

"GRENADE!"

Ben spun around to see a blue ball of plasma flying towards his face. Ben tried to react, but the grenade landed smack on his forehead. Blue heat sizzled into his head and Ben knew that he was a goner. Suddenly the grenade was gone and something plowed into him, knocking him to the ground. Ben looked up and saw the Master Chief's shields flare as the grenade denoted. The Chief got off Ben and Ben thanked him, "Thank you Master Chief. I was a dead man." The Chief said nothing as he shot an Elite in the face.

Elias felt sick as he blew a grunts head off. He had been sure Ben was going to die. When he saw the grunt throw the grenade and land on Ben, he had been positive his combat partner was dead. He was going to have to personally thank the Chief later. As Elias reloaded he realized that it was quiet. He looked up to see that all the Covenant were laying on the ground, dead. He also noticed that a marine had fallen. Fredrick. He lay on the ground, he eyes wide open and his mouth was filled with blood. His entire right side of his armor was burned away to reveal a raw, bloody side. Elias could tell just by looking at him that his death had been fast.

Mendoza was kneeling at his side and crying, "No, no, no, no, no, NO! DAMN IT! WHY!" He pounded on the dead body tears flowing from his eyes and yelling, "DAMN IT!" No one made a move to stop his pounding on the body. Elias looked up an saw the Chief was gone.

_No time to mourn for the dead_, Elias thought. The sarge walked forward and pulled the Mendoza up, "Come on, we have to move on."

Mendoza tried to shake him off, but Johnson's grip was as firm as iron. They proceeded down a hallway and Elias saw dead Covenant bodies littering the ground. No one said anything, but they all seemed to be on full alert, except for Mendoza who was still red around the eyes. The squad got to a huge room that looked to be a docking bay. They could hear gunfire coming from the other side of the room. Elias tried to see, but a large wall blocked his view. The squad walked around the wall to see Master Chief drop the last of two Hunters.

The marines might not have not of existed for all the acknowledgment the Chief gave them. He just trotted on his way down another corridor. Elias felt a stab of – was it anger?

_He really doesn't need us though_, Elias thought, _We're just along for the ride_. The squad followed the Chief down the purple twisting corridors and after running into a small squad of grunts and Jackals, they got to a large room that was dark and it looked like the holding cells. Sure enough, as Elias walked into the room, he saw marines standing behind liquid looking shields. The Chief ran forward to a control panel and quickly switched it off. The shields went down and the captives rushed out. The Chief was helping Keyes up and Elias heard the Captain say, "Coming here was reckless…thanks."

Elias smiled and nudged Ben in the ribs. Keyes wasn't one for thanks. Ben was about to say something when a roar came from the doorway. Elias spun around, but saw nothing. He felt something hit him in the chest and it caused him to fly back and hit a wall, forcing the wind out of him.

"Invisible Elites!" Keyes yelled. The Master Chief open fired and his bullets thudded into an Elite, knocking out its invisibility. But there was more of them. Ben was peppering the air with fire and every one in a while, an Elite would come into view. Keyes filled one Elite with needles and the explosion killed it and the Elite next to it. All was quiet. Ben helped his mate up and Elias let a wad of bloody spit fly.

"Stupid Elites. I _hate_ those things!" Elias complained letting another wad a bloodied spit fly.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked, concern filling his voice.

Elias let out an a disgusted grunt, "I'm fine, can't believe I got knocked though."

Ben seemed satisfied and looked up to see the last of the marines leaving the room. "Whoa buddy! Come on E lets go! We're going to get left behind." The two marines left the empty room and followed the Chief and Keyes. All was fine for a while until a startled grunt dropped a live grenade causing a room clearer and killing a marine who got to close. But the squad never stopped. They continued on, battling off everything that got in their way. The Chief did most of it, but everyone got plenty of action. After about ten minuets of passage ways, the squad came to a door and the Chief signaled them to halt. He motioned Elias to the front.

Elias walked forward, confusion filling him. Master Chief opened the door and Elias saw three floating plasma swords. It took him a moment to realize that there was three invisible Elites patrolling the room, holding plasma swords. What did the Chief want him to do? Then he remembered his sniper. He pulled it out and held his breath. He squeezed the trigger twice and brought down one of them, blood squirting from its neck. The other two took a second to react and that gave Elias another two shots, dropping the second one. Elias was in a mad panic as he re-loaded because the last Elite was charging. Master Chief dove forward and tackled it, taking it in the stomach. With a smashing head butt, he killed the Elite, its face knocked in.

"Nice," Ben said quietly. Keyes was talking to someone using Cortana as a radio. From what Elias could pick out, it sounded like they were going to have to find their own way out.

One soldier, Elias thought his name was Eddy, heard the bad news and wailed, "Aw man, we're trapped in hear! We're screwed man! We're screwed!"

Keyes whipped around with a frosty glare and barked, "Stow the belly aching soldier, remember you're a leather neck."

In spite of himself Elias chuckled. Keyes was kinda funny, especially to people he didn't like very much. The squad was moving again and Elias followed. The Chief led them a large room that Elias recognized as the docking bay.

"We're going to board that Covenant cruiser!" Keyes yelled as the Chief shot at a wave of Covenant that poured from the other end of the bay. The squad quickly ran across a loading ramp and onto the ship. The Chief was last to get on. Inside, Elias was crammed next to Ben who flashed him a intentionally gay smile. Elias smiled but a sudden jolt wiped it right off.

"What the hell is Keyes _doing_?" Ben asked looking worried. Elias didn't have an answer for him but soon enough he got that floating sensation in his stomach and he knew that they were airborne. Elias leaned back and sighed.

"I'm so tired," one of the marines mumbled. Another agreed with him.

"As soon as I get back to the camp, I'm going to find some water and wash up. I feel like I've been soaking in mud!" Elias said taking off his helmet and wiping his sweat soaked head.

"A hot shower sounds like heaven right now, and a huge thick steak," Ben said closing his eyes and imagining it.

"Aw shut up mate! You're making me hungry!"

"I got some meat for ya!"

"If you keep it up, I'll shoot ya myself!"

Elias chuckled at the marines comments and nudged Ben in the ribs, "Someone wants to give ya some meat. You going take up his offer?"

Ben put on his childhood lip face, "I only want your meat!"

Elias chuckled again, "Sorry dude, I'm not gay." Ben gave him a playful big lip.

After that, the ship was silent all the way until Elias felt the ship slowly begin its descent. The ship came to a gentle landing and the ramps dropped down. Elias saw the familiar makeshift camp strewn out before him. Marines had gathered around the ship and were seeing if they knew anybody. Elias hopped down and Ben was right behind him.

"I'm beat dude, I'm going to get some sleep," Ben said.

Elias nodded, "All right, I think I will too." They both wondered off into separate tents and Elias slowly took off his armor and saw a massive bruise on his chest.

_Stupid Elite_, Elias thought, _at least it's dead_. He lid down on the flat mat and closed his eyes and was asleep in seconds.

A couple hours later, he awoke with a start. He had been having bad dreams. He had been at some weird place and Ben had been dying. He had a huge hole in his chest. Elias wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. Battle nightmares. He stood up and realized that someone was standing outside his tent. He peeked his head out and the marine who was standing there gave a start.

"Ooh, you scared me. The captain wishes to see you immediately."

Puzzled Elias climbed out of the tent to see Ben standing on the other side.

"Thought you'd never wake up mate," he said with a wry grin.

They were led into the cave and Elias saw makeshift beds set up around the walls. At the back of the cave was a table with an electric lantern and a man with his back to them was standing over the table looking at something.

The marine came to a halt in front of the man and said, "Sir! Here's the leader and his combat partner!"

The man turned around and Captain Keyes addressed them, "Ah, thank you Jenkins. Hello soldiers. What are your names?"

"Ben sir."

"Elias sir."

Keyes nodded, "I see. Well Ben and Elias, I want to thank you for helping me escape the Covenant. You guys really gave them hell. As you can see, our position is bad. We have a very small amount of ammo and food. We are injured and need medical supplies. Things aren't looking good. The bottom line is, we won't last long if we don't get supplies soon. I am organizing an assault so that we can get to the Pillar of Autumn and get those supplies. We also need to find out more about this ring so I'm organizing a party that is to be led by Master Chief. We need to find the cartographer for Halo. How do I know one exists and how do we know where it is? We picked up a Covenant transmission a couple hours ago that gave the coordinates to it. Apparently they are setting up extra patrols to guard it now that we're are their turf. That's why were sending in the Chief. You're probably asking yourself, 'what does this have to do with us Captain?' Well I'll tell you. We need to get as close to the cartographer as possible. To do this we are going to have to set down at a beach that is very near to the cartographer. This beach is heavy with Covenant troops, but we need to get as close as possible, like I said. So I'm asking you, Ben, Elias, to lead the beach assault and then after the beach is secure, I'll send in a Pelican to pick you up and take you to the Pillar of Autumn to get some supplies."

Elias took a deep breath and said, "Wow sir. That's a lot."

"We would be honored to lead the assault sir!" Ben said stepping forward.

"Yea, I was getting to that," Elias mumbled.

Keyes looked relieved, "Good good. Take it easy and get some rest while we wait for the Chief to get back okay?"

"Yes sir, thank you sir," Ben said. Elias threw a salute before following Ben out.

"Are you crazy Ben! Leading the assault? It's suicide! I might as well throw myself off a cliff and be done with it!" Elias said once they were out of the cave.

Ben sighed patiently, "Look Elias, this is probably suicide, yes, you're right. But we're going to die sometime, probably in the near future, regardless of what we do. Wouldn't you rather die on the battle field then sitting on your butt and waiting to get shot?"

Elias let out a long sigh, "Yea. I guess you're right." Then Elias got a mischievous look on his face and said in a stupid voice, "Since this might be out last night, let's go out with a bang. I want to make you scream. Oh and Ben, I'm shaved."

Ben put on his lip face and played along, "Yum! I'll see if the marines have any whip cream!"

The two marines fell in a fit of laughter and the others at the camp looked at them like they had gone insane and wondered what they had to laugh about. Elias and Ben split up and wondered into separate tents to sleep. Elias took off all his armor and he flexed his shoulders. He felt like he could fly. He laid down on the single blanket that covered the ground and sighed deeply as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Three hours later he was being shaken awake by Ben.

"What? What?" Elias said sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

"It's almost time to go. You'd better get dressed. Here it this also," Ben said handing Elias something wrapped in foil. Ben left and Elias quickly strapped his armor on and devoured the energy bar that Ben had given him. It tasted like dirt.

He left the tent and saw two Pelicans prepping for take off. Master Chief was already in one of them. Ben handed Elias his MA5B assault rifle and his M6D pistol along with a cover frags.

"This is it," Ben said as he boarded the Pelican. Elias was glad Ben had picked the Pelican with Master Chief. Everything felt better with the Chief present. Elias wore a confident face as he sat down next to his combat partner. Marines piled into the Pelicans, all looking scared.

Captain Keyes came out of the cave and he said, "Good luck marines." And then the Pelicans were off.

"That was quite a speech he gave," said one of the marines.

"Stow it Mendoza," Sergeant Johnson barked. Ben was unusually quiet as he watched the land soar by.

"You ok?" Elias asked.

Ben nodded, "Yea, I'm fine. It's just…I was thinkin…what if this is the end? What happens if we do die? What then?"

Elias didn't like this conversation one bit and he reached across and knocked Ben on the side of the head, "Snap out of it Ben! Don't talk like that.

Johnson smiled, "Damn straight!"

Ben looked stunned but after a moment he grinned, "Thanks E. Who's ready to kick some Covenant ass?"

All the marines pumped their fist into the air and yelled, "Hooraw!"

Elias smiled. Ben was back to normal. Elias looked out the back of the Pelican to see that they were gliding over an ocean. He looked up and said, "Who wants to dive in first?"

A marine in the back stood up and looked like he was actually going to do it before Johnson yelled, "Sit down! Elias! Keep your mouth shut or I'll seal it shut!"

"Hey Sarge, why do you yell so much? Do you like it or do you have bad hearing?" Elias said.

"One more comment like that, and I'll have private Ben toss you out the back," Johnson growled.

"Yay! I get to man handle Elias!" Ben said stupidly. Elias laughed. Ben was defiantly back to normal.

Suddenly the loud speakers blared, "We're approaching the LZ, it's going to hot!"

Elias readied himself as the Pelican came to a gentle landing.

The loudspeakers blared, "Touch down! Hit it marines!"

Elias jumped out of the back, followed by the marines and the Chief. The sight that lay before them was not a pretty one. Scores of grunts were charging the two Pelicans and Elites were close behind them. Jackals came from the sides in a pincher like movement. The two Pelicans lifted off and flew away, leaving two squads of adrenaline pumped marines.

Master Chief was the first to charge the aliens, but he was quickly followed by the rest.

Elias downed a grunt and then aimed at another, capping it in the face. Ben had his assault rifle out and was working on an Elite. Plasma fire scourged the sand around them and two marines fell with a scream as charged plasma shots exploded on their chests.

Elias saw that the Covenant had put up shields and he knew they were screwed if they didn't get them down.

"Ben the shields!" Elias yelled. Ben understood and they both threw grenades at them. In one big explosion, the shields got knocked out. The other marines saw the opportunity and they threw their grenades at the panicked looking Elites that were behind the downed shields. Explosions rocked Elias's ears and purple blood splattered his vision. He wiped the blood from his face and saw that Ben was trying to knock a Jackals shield out of the way so that he could get a clear shot at its body. The Chief was taking on two Elites, both scarlet. He meeled one, knocking its shields out, then he pulled out a plasma grenade and stuck its face. He pushed the Elite into the other one and the both tumbled to the ground and the explosion killed them both. Elias saw another squad of grunts was charging them.

"Fire wall! Fire wall!" Sergeant Johnson yelled. The marines quickly formed a line, shoulder to shoulder, each of them kneeling on one knee.

"Fire! Fire! Fire!" Johnson yelled.

Elias squeezed the trigger of his assault rifle and it danced in his hands. He killed three grunts in less than a second, their blue blood staining the sand. Green plasma splattered the ground and a few found there targets. On Elias's third clip, the grunts stopped the charge and turned to flee. Elias smiled. The battle was done… for now. Elias looked to his right to congratulate Ben only to see him laying on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.

"Oh God no," Elias said as he flipped Ben over on his back. Ben's face was pale and Elias saw that his chest plate was burned away and Ben's chest was red and bloody.

"Get a medic over here!" Elias yelled panic filling him.

Ben's eyes were wide and he coughed up more blood. His breathing was coming in gasps and every time he breathed, blood spilled from his chest.

"Damn it Ben hold on, WE NEED A FUCKING MEDIC OVER HERE!" Elias screamed.

A short marine ran over and Elias saw that he had a red cross painted on his helmet. The medic. The rest of the marines were either attending the wounded or were shooting a few stragglers.

"Oh man," he said as he approached Ben's wheezing body.

"What do you mean 'oh man'? Don't just sit there god damn it! Do something!" Elias yelled.

The medic looked at Elias, "Look buddy, your friend is really busted up bad. I need to work on him, but I can't have you yelling over my shoulder the whole time ok?"

Johnson came over to Elias and put his arm around Elias, "Come on boy, the medic needs space."

Elias shook him off, "I'm not leaving Ben!" Johnson grabbed Elias by the arm and pulled him close, "Boy don't got berserk on me now. If you want there to be any chance of Ben living, then you need to leave the medic to his work ok? The Pelican is coming. They'll drop off a Warthog so that Master Chief can continue and then they'll pick you up and take you to the Pillar of Autumn. The mission isn't over soldier."

Elias knew Johnson was right, but the thought of Ben bleeding and dying was just overwhelming. He looked over the battle field and saw a Pelican landing and Master Chief roar off on a Warthog. Dead bodies littered the sand. Grunts, Elites, Jackals…humans. Elias saw a marine weeping silently over his fallen partner. Elias felt a pang of sadness wash over him for the weeping man. Marines with stretchers were running out to the wounded and getting them loaded onto the Pelican. Elias watched as Ben was layed on one and gently carried to the ship. The only thing that kept Elias from running to his side was Sergeant Johnson's firm grip on his shoulders. After the dead and wounded were loaded on, the living marines were the next to board. Elias sat down in the all-to-familiar interior of the ship and felt helpless as they took off. He could see in the back of the craft, Ben, with medics crowding around him and working over him. Blood was everywhere. It leaked onto the floor and trailed out the back of the ship. On the ground below the Pelican, it would seem like it was raining blood.

Across from Elias, marines sat in silence as the sounds of Ben's wheezing washed over their ears. They knew what was happening and in their hearts they were all praying silently for the fallen marines.

"Hey, you're bleeding," said the marine next to Elias.

Elias glanced at his thigh and saw blood. He shook it off, "I'm fine, it's just a scratch. Leave me alone."

The marine seemed to understand, but he handed Elias a can of Freeze Foam. Elias took it and after a couple minuets he took off his thigh plate and sprayed the foam over the wound. It looked bad, but Elias never gave it a second thought as the foam froze over. He wiped the blood from his thigh plate and then re-attached it.

The marine took the can back and smiled, "I know he was your friend-is your friend. I know how you feel. I'm sorry."

Elias nodded, "Thanks."

The ship remained silent for a while and then the marine next to Elias spoke again, "I lost my combat partner when the escape pods crashed. He had been my best friend since childhood. You met him I think. You helped us fight off a squad of Covenant back on the Pillar of Autumn. My names Matt."

Elias nodded, not remembering meeting him before but not really caring at the same time.

"Seeing that we don't have combat partners at the moment, maybe we could team up for now?" Matt asked.

"Ben's not going to die," Elias said quietly.

"I know. He'll pull through, but for now we both need someone to watch each others back. What do you say?"

Elias was silent for a long time before nodding. Matt smiled and leaned back to close his eyes. Elias glanced at the medics and saw that Ben was wearing an oxygen mask. A pile of bloody rags lay next to him and the meds were wiping up blood with them. Ben's eyes were closed and he was completely motionless. Damn it, he _had_ to live!

"We're getting close to the Pillar of Autumn," Foehammer announced.

Johnson stood up, "Okay marines, lets do this." Elias picked up his assault rifle and slung it over his shoulder. He didn't feel like going anywhere, he felt like staying right here next to Ben. Johnson came over and put an arm on around Elias's shoulders and said quietly, "Come on boy, let's finish this."

The Pelican came to a rough landing and Elias hopped out of the back along with the other marines. The Pillar of Autumn was a sight! It lay at an odd angle, the back of it dangling off a cliff, and the front was smashed into the ground, but other than that, it appeared fine. Captain Keyes did one hell of a job landing the thing.

The marines cautiously approached the ship, looking for any signs of Covenant. Elias trudged behind Johnson, worry creasing his face. The squad got to a hatch on the side of the massive ship and Johnson signaled to open it. Matt walked/ forward and pulled on it but it didn't open. He twisted, yanked, and tugged but to no avail.

"It won't open sir," Matt said stepping back from the hatch.

"We'll have to blow it open then. Mendoza! Give me a frag!" Johnson barked. Mendoza was quick to hand the sergeant one.

"Stand back marines! Let the sarge show you how it's done!" Johnson said as he pulled the pin on the frag. He chucked it and the thing bounced next to the door. An explosion followed and dirt rained from the sky. Matt walked up to the hatch and gave it a kick.

"ENEMY!"

Elias recognized the high pitch voice and raised his weapon along with the other marines and open fired at the grunt. It tumbled backward dead. More Covenant poured from the hatch by the dozens. Elias was trying to fall back while shooting and he saw the other marines were doing the same. Sergeant Johnson was yelling something, but his shouts were being drown out by the gunfire.

A marine screamed as an Elite shot him in the chest. Matt was franticly trying to reload and Elias shot a grunt who was about to throw a grenade at Matt. The grenade fell and denoted causing a chain reaction and resulting in a monstrous explosion. After the dust had settled Elias saw blood, carnage, and death. The Covenant had stopped coming through the hatch.

"Well done marines. Looks like this could be harder than I thought. How many we lose?" Johnson asked.

A shaken up marine answered, "Just one sir. Max."

Johnson nodded, "Ok we need proceed with extreme caution. Elias, Matt, you take the lead."

Elias nodded his mind feeling numb. No emotion drifted across his brain. Elias stepped through the hatch, over the bloody corpses and looked around. The Pillar of Autumn looked a lot like he had left it, just darker and dirtier. Matt was close behind Elias and he gave him a little nudge to keep moving. Elias walked down the dim hallway and he heard of the marines behind him say, "It's good to be back."

The party walked through the Autumn, not seeing anything alive, and Elias was beginning to wonder if there was any more Covenant left when a loud scuffle of alien feet came from around the corner.

"FORM UP!" Johnson yelled and just as the words left his mouth, six Hunters charged around the corner.

Elias back peddled and shot franticly at the huge blue and orange aliens. Matt was screaming something at him, but he couldn't understand what. One of the Hunters swung its massive iron shield at the marines and hit three of them, their bodies flying against the walls, leaving blood streaks.

One of the Hunters went down as Johnson sidestepped it and shot it in the back of the head. Three of the Hunters were charging Johnson now and the other two were headed for Elias and the other marines.

"Shoot its belly!" Matt yelled and the marines focused there attention on the Hunters gut. Orange blood poured from the alien and it went down as ten clips were emptied into it.

The other Hunter was still charging and it swung its shield towards Elias. Elias tried to side step it, but the end smashed into his side. He heard ribs snap as he went airborne and smashed into the wall. Elias's vision blurred and sounds came in echo's. He felt an extreme pain in his side as gunfire filled his ears. Someone was screaming his name. Blood leaked down into his eyes and he squinted at its sting. He tried to wipe the blood from his eyes, but found that his arms weren't responding.

Something crashed right next to him and he saw that the Hunter was lying dead next to him. Matt came into Elias's vision and he heard him saying, "Don't die! Don't die!"

Elias felt like smiling for some reason. Death? Is this the end? Someone was taking off his armor and doing something to his side. His vision came into focus for a second and he saw Johnson kneeling next to him.

"This is going to hurt a lot, boy. Brace yourself," Johnson said. Elias felt confused. Hurt? What's going to hurt. His brain didn't seem to be working. Suddenly Elias let out a scream as his side was engulfed in a burning fire of intense pain. Elias screamed his lungs out until he passed out.

"Easy soldier, easy."

Elias slowly opened his eyes to see Johnson sitting next to him. Elias groaned, his body felt like it had been through a cement mixer. His side was still hurting, but not as much. And he could see and hear clearly now also.

"I didn't see what happened to you boy, but from the size of that piece of metal that was sticking out from your side, I'd say you're lucky to be alive," said Johnson.

Piece of metal in his side? Elias didn't remember, but he knew he was aching.

"Where's the rest of the marines?" Elias croaked.

"They're moving on to get the supplies. I was left here in charge of you because I was hurt also. Not as bad as you, but I'm sore. I took out three Hunters all by myself and that I tell you, is worth these sores," Johnson smiled. Three Hunters! The man was tougher than Elias had given him credit for.

"What happens next sir?" Elias asked sitting up and feeling something stiff under his shirt. He reached inside and felt a brace around his body.

"Next? Who knows. If we get out of here, then it's back to camp for a while I hope. See how the Chiefs doing and all that. Listen to Keyes next plan. Blah, blah, blah. All I know is that whatever's next, I'll be ready to greet it head on," Johnson said.

Elias smiled. The sarge had always been ready to face what was next no matter how bleak the situation was. Elias flexed his arms and grimaced. They were sore, but at least they weren't broken.

"Take it easy. Don't break anything else," sarge said.

"I'm fine. Thanks for your help sarge. I probably would be in bad shape if you hadn't helped me out. Thanks."

Johnson seemed almost embarrassed, something Elias had never seen him display, "Aw, it was nothing. It's what any soldier would do."

The two sat there in silence for some time until the roar of a Warthog engine sounded and flew around the corner, coming to a stop at Johnson's feet. Matt jumped out wearing a grin, "How ya doing?"

"Alright. Where is everybody else?" Elias asked.

Matt hopped down from the driver seat, "They're on there way back to base. I came back for you two."

"Mighty thoughtful of you," Johnson said sarcastically as he stood up, "Did you find any supplies?"

Matt nodded, "Yep, a whole butt load of it. We also managed to get two tanks also. Yea…two tanks and five Warthogs, not including this one. We also got ammo and food."

"Sounds good. Lets get moving," Johnson said as he stepped up into the gunner seat. Matt jumped into the driver seat again and Elias painfully hobbled into the passenger seat. Matt revved the engine and peeled out. As they flew down the large hallways of the Pillar of Autumn, Elias saw additional dead Covenant. Mostly Jackals and grunts.

"You have much of a resistance?" Elias asked as Matt led the Hog out of a large hatch and into the fresh evening air.

"A little. Nothing we couldn't handle," Matt replied. Elias leaned back in his seat and enjoyed the wind in his face. It felt nice, though the weather had gotten cold an Elias smelled snow on the wind.

Before he knew it, they were pulling into the makeshift camp. Matt killed the engine and helped Elias down. Elias gritted his teeth against the blazing heat in his side. He could use some Freeze Foam.

Elias looked around the camp and saw a team of marines unloading food and ammo from a heavy burdened Warthog. He saw two Scorpion tanks parked at the back of the camp on either side of the cave like they were guarding it. Two marines had dismounted the guns on two of the Hogs and were setting them up in the front.

Keyes had walked out of the cave and was walking towards Elias.

"How you doing boy?" He asked.

Elias smiled weakly, "I'm holding up sir. I'll be ready to get back in the fight in no time." Elias said it, but he felt like death. He was so tired.

Keyes put a hand on Elias's shoulder, "You sound like your combat partner. Yes, yes, Ben's doing much better. You should go and see him."

Elias hobbled as fast as he could to the cave. When he entered it he saw in the dim light, Ben sitting with his back to the wall, watching something on his CP.

"Hey man. How you feeling?"

Ben looked up and smiled, "Hey man. I'm doing good. I can't believe I let myself get all busted up like this. I barely made it. I lost like half my blood. You look like you're limping. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. We ran into a couple of Hunters and I got knocked. Broke a couple ribs, but I have a brace around them so I'll be fine. How soon can you be back in the field?" Elias asked.

Ben sighed, "Oh I don't know. I could now, it'd just hurt a lot. I want to go back, but the stupid medic says I'd start bleeding again. Just give me some Freeze Foam and I'll be fine! I get so angry some times. I hate sitting here and doing nothing! After they stitched me up, I mostly just sat around and wondered what you were doing and if you were dead. I hated that! I'm not going to do it again!"

"Ok! Ok, calm down Ben. I'll put in a few words for you and maybe the medic will let you go. Do you have some Freeze Foam by the way? My side is on fire," Elias asked.

Ben pulled out a can and tossed it to Elias. Elias pulled off his shirt and sprayed the foam under the brace and felt the familiar icy coldness sweep though him.

Elias put his shirt back on, after Ben made a few gay comments, and sat down next to his friend and they talked about their battles until they fell asleep.

The next morning, Elias awoke to a loud groan from his combat partner.

"Ohhh, I am sore!"

Elias sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Is it morning all ready? Ben it's still dark out, shut up and go to sleep."

But Ben was fully awake and he said, "Baby, why are you always so cranky in the morning?" Elias smiled with his eyes still shut, "Okay Turk. What time is it?"

"I don't know. Must be five or six. The sky is getting gray. Come on, I can see some marines making breakfast out there. They made a fire," Ben said standing up and scratching his head.

Elias ground his teeth and tried not to say anything that would offend Ben. He _hated_ how early Ben got up. He was always like this ever since Elias had met him. But Elias got up and followed his friend out of the cave. Elias could see his breath and he shivered. The first flakes of snow were falling.

"Good morning Elias," a marine said as Elias approached the fire. Elias walked closer and saw it was Matt.

"Morning. Whacha making?" Elias asked pointing to the fire.

"I'm just cooking up some rations from the ship that we got. Mendoza woke up with some fierce belly aching and said he needed some food," Matt said pointing to the marine next to him.

"Come on Matt, stop talking and cook that food!" Mendoza said impatiently.

"You know, you don't have to cook that stuff," Ben said. Hearing this, Mendoza grabbed the metal pan from the fire, using a stick, and wolfed the food down.

"Jeez man, take it easy! You're going to get an even worse stomach ache!" Matt said watching Mendoza.

"I can't believe it's snowing," Elias said.

Matt nodded in agreement, "I know. It sounds like the sarge has a mission for us today too."

"Do you know where Master Chief is?" Ben asked.

Matt warmed his hands over the fire, "Yea, I heard Keyes saying something about him going to find some control room or something. Beats me what's going on, I'm just a marine."

"Are we meeting up with him?" Elias asked hopefully.

"Sounds like we're going to try," Matt said as Mendoza finished his food. He jumped up and said, "I'm getting some more!" As he trotted off, Matt shook his head, "That man's going to be sick by mid-day."

Elias sat down next to the fire and watched the snow drift from the sky and land on the hard ground. He wondered what disasters the day would bring and how many soldiers would die. Would he die? Would Ben? Mendoza came running back carrying an armload of food. He dumped them on the ground and tore open a package and started devouring the contents. Elias picked one up and opened it up. It looked like some kind of salty beef. He took a bite and grimaced. It was really salty and it was like leather. But he ate it anyway.

Marines started drifting out of the tents and starting fires of there own. Johnson wandered from his own tent and sat down next to Elias.

"It's going to be a cold one," he said pulling out a cigar. Elias grimaced. Cigars for breakfast?

Ben rubbed his hands together as the snow started to fall heavier, "Sir are we going out on a mission today?"

The sergeant blow a smoke ring before answering, "I don't know if you are, but yes there's going to be a mission today."

"I have to stay here and watch the camp," Matt complained.

Ben stood, "Sir, I'm going. There's nothing that could stop me."

"Seems that way doesn't it? What if your wound busts open in the middle of battle? You start bleeding to death and boy, you got lucky the first time. Don't expect your luck to hold out."

"Sir, if things get tough out there, well, then they do. We all die sometime and I'd rather die out there on the field than here!" Ben said.

"You said that last time Ben and you got shot," Elias put in.

Ben turned to Elias, "You're not helping!"

Elias shrugged, "I'm just saying."

Johnson took a long puff from his cigar before saying, "Look boy, If you really want to go that bad, no one's going to stop you."

"I know it," Ben mumbled and sat down again. The morning wore on and so the camp was bustling around and the pilots were prepping the Pelicans. Marines were checking over their weapons and strapping on their armor. Elias found some knew armor, since his had been completely ruined by the Hunter, and he and Ben where soon hopping in the back of a Pelican with Sergeant Johnson and the marines. The Pelicans lifted off the ground and in no time, where skimming over the mountains.

"Where's the Chief right now?" Elias asked.

"We don't really know, it's kinda like taking a giant leap without knowing where you're going to land," Johnson said.

_Great_, Elias thought. The snow was really coming down hard now and the ground was almost fully covered. Elias looked across at Ben and smiled. The man had really recovered fast. Either that or he was gritting his teeth and sucking up the pain. It was a marvel Ben hadn't died, but it was a marvel Elias was glad for.

Suddenly a massive explosion erupted from the cockpit and Elias was jostled in his seat restraint.

"Report!" Johnson yelled out of instinct, but of course there was no one to report. Everyone was in a panic. From where Elias was sitting he could see black smoke pouring out the side. He looked over at Ben and saw he was wearing a worried frown. Johnson was sending out an SOS, and another marine looked like he was praying. Suddenly Elias heard Cortana's voice coming in over the radio. From what he could make out, it sounded like the Chief and her would come as fast as they could.

"Hurry Chief hurry," Ben said. The ship was falling faster now and Elias saw the ground was rushing up on them.

"Brace yourselves marines!" Johnson yelled. Elias closed his eyes and suddenly there was a earsplitting grinding sound and an explosion somewhere. The ship rocked violently and Elias was thrown against his restraint only to have it snap. It was all a jumble of colors and yells as Elias was tossed into the air and smash face first into something hard. Darkness took him.

"Oh God don't be dead!"

Elias felt as if his eyelids were ten thousand pound weights as he opened them to see Ben kneeling over him. Gun fire filled his ears as he stared up at Ben. His face felt numb and something warm was running out of his mouth. He touched his finger to his lips. They came away bloody.

"Are you okay! Can you move?" Ben asked over the gunfire. Elias said nothing. He craned his neck and saw they were on thick blue ice. Covenant were charging down a steep hill side towards them and two Hunters were plastering the ground with hot green plasma.

"Can you move you legs!" Ben yelled again.

"I think so," Elias mumbled. His lips felt swollen and blood dripped from his mouth. Ben heaved Elias up despite Elias's yell of pain, and dragged him over behind the crashed Pelican.

"Stay here until we clear out the Covenant!" Ben instructed.

Elias pulled himself into a standing position, "I'm…coming." He coughed again and spit out the blood. He felt his mouth and realized he was missing a tooth. Not his front ones thank God. Two from the front was a space.

"No Elias! Stay here!" Ben said trying to make Elias sit down.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Elias croaked. _Damn the stupid blood! It won't stop gushing from my mouth! _Elias thought. Then Elias realized blood leaking from Ben's chest plate.

"Ben! Your wound! It's burst!" Ben looked down at his chest and shrugged, "Whatever, if you're coming then come. They need me though so I'm going."

Elias painfully raised his assault rifle and walked out from the Pelican. Covenant were coming down the hill side by the thousands. He raised his rifle and open fired. As Elias was shooting he saw that two marines had died in the crash. Another was badly injured. Sergeant Johnson was barking orders at the remaining five marines. Grunts went down, Jackals were slain, Elites were tore apart, but no matter how many they killed, more would come. Elias was on his last magazine, he peppered a grunts body with fire then switched his aim at a golden Elite. Ben was throwing his last grenade when he suddenly fell to the ground, unconcious, in a pool of his own blood.

"BEN!" Elias yelled. _Not again! Oh God, not again!_ Elias thought. Another marine went down, plastered with green plasma. Elias dropped to his knees at Ben's side, his assault rifle thrown carelessly to the side.

"Ben! BEN! WAKE UP GOD DAMN YOU!" Elias yelled shaking Ben violently. Ben lay motionless, blood oozing from his armor.

_Why didn't I make him stay at the camp! WHY! DAMN IT! _Elias thought furiously. He pulled Ben back behind the Pelican just as a plasma grenade exploded, killing two marines. Elias tore off Ben's armor and threw it to the side. Ben stitches had popped and a bloody gaping hole was on his chest. Johnson flew around the corner and almost slid into Ben.

"Things aren't looking good son," Johnson said. His face was bloody.

"How many left?" Elias asked.

"Just me and you," Johnson said sliding in his last clip. "How's he doing?" Jonhson asked pointing to Ben.

"I don't think he's going to make it," Elias said quietly, tears welling up in his eyes. Johnson nodded, "I don't think any of us have a chance." Ben was now having convulsions. His body jerked ridgidly and his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Do you have any Freeze Foam!" Elias croaked. Johnson shook his head. Suddenly Ben stopped shaking and he lay motionless.

Elias quickly checked his pulse. Nothing.

"NO! NO GOD DAMN IT!" Elias grabbed Ben by the shoulders and shook him. "NO BEN! NO! YOU'RE NOT DYING ON ME! GET UP DAMN IT! GET UP!"

The plasma fire was very close now. Johnson could hear the Hunters on their final charge. He knew all was lost. Elias was rocking back and forth holding Ben's bloody corpse and sobbing. Johnson stood up and walked out to meet his doom. Suddenly a loud boom echoed through the cannion and Johnson's head whipped in the direction of the cliff. A massive Scorpian tank was plowing through a pack of screaming grunts and mowing them down with its machine gun.

Johnson heaved a sigh of relief. The Chief had arrived. The Covenant were charging the tank now, but the Chief easily destroyed them. Johnson ran back to Elias and saw he was still weeping, Ben's dead body clutched in his arms.

Elias was crying, "I promised I'd watch out for you. You're not dead. I'm hear to watch out for you. DAMN IT!" Elias dropped Ben's body and picked up his pistol.

He charged up the cliff screaming, "You Covenant bastards are going to PAY!

"ELIAS!" Johnson yelled. He charged after the crazed marine and Master Chief blew a squad of Elites away. The Hunters were all that were left now and the Chief aimed the huge barrel at them and fired. The lifeless corpses were blow into the air. Johnson caught up to Elias, who was now on his knees and sobbing.

"It's done now son, it's all over," said Johnson.

Elias whipped around, his red teary eyes now full of anger, "He's dead! They killed him! He was like a brother and now he's dead!" The Chief was out of the tank and he walked over to Johnson.

"I called in a Pelican to come and pick you up," he said in that quiet calm voice of his, "What happened?" he asked pointing to Elias.

"His combat partner got shot. They were like brothers, them. All ways together," Johnson said. Elias had stopped crying and was now just trying to stifle sobs.

The Chief walked over to Elias and put a hand on his shoulder, "I sorry for your loss. War takes away loved ones. Try to be brave for him." Elias nodded, his red eyes trying to get a brave look in them. Johnson felt pity for the marine. If he was weeping this much, the two must have been very close.

"Sir," Elias said in a broken voice, "I…I'll try to not let this get in the way." Johnson grunted, "Boy, war is hell and sometimes you can't help but weep. What I'm trying to say is, it's ok." Elias nodded and attempted a smile, failing miserably.

"What now Chief?" Johnson asked.

Master Chief sighed, "I go on. I have to find this control room. For you two, it's back to the camp."

Elias stepped forward, "Sir, permission to go with you."

Master Chief shook his head, "Permission denied. You need to get back to the camp and sort out your thoughts."

"I just want to kill the Covenant," Elias growled.

"You want to avenge your friend. I understand that, but you're filled with emotions now and you'll probably do something stupid. No, you need to go back to the camp and drain your emotions," the Chief said cooly.

"It's for the best son," Johnson said quietly. Elias nodded and a tear drop dripped from his eye, "ok," was all he said. Master Chief was back in his tank and roaring off in no time. Johnson stood next to Elias and said, "An amazing man, the Master Chief." Elias nodded.

"He must have lost plently of ones he loved in battle," Johnson continued. "I never see him weeping though. I'm not making fun of you for weeping though. It's hard when you lose a loved one, believe me I know. The way I keep myself from going insane though, is saying to myself, 'what would my dead friend want me to do?' You know? What I saying is, don't do something your combat partner wouldn't want."

Elias was silent. He seemed to be thinking hard. Pelican engines broke the silence and Johnson looked up to see a ship flying over head.

"Come on son, let's head back." Johnson took Elias by the arm and led him over to the landing Pelican.

"Is this all of you?" Elias looked up and saw it was Matt who had spoken. Elias got up into the Pelican and sat down next to him.

"What happened?" Matt asked seeing the grim look in Elias's eyes.

"Ben's dead." Matt seemed shocked. He sat back in his seat and let out a long breath, "Wheeeew. I'm really sorry. I really am. You two were tighter than a bullet and its shell." Elias said nothing. Ben was dead. He couldn't believe it. The Pelican roared off and Johnson was taking off his armor and wiping the crusty blood from his face. Elias felt his own face and felt dried blood. He left it.

Matt leaned forward and said quietly, "I feel for you buddy, but we both need some one else to watch each other's backs. Do you want to be combat partners?"

Elias's eyes got red again, "Partners? I never thought I'd need another one after Ben teamed up with me. I think I'm bad luck. The two partners I've had, they've died. Do you really want to team up?"

Matt nodded and Elias grunted, "Fine." The rest of the trip back was in silence. As the Pelican landed in the camp, Elias looked out at the tents and saw there were very few marines left. Maybe twenty-five. Elias got out of the ship and trudged his way to his tent. He plopped himself down and stripped off his armor. He winced as he laid down, his whole body ached, and he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Dreams entered Elias's troubled sleep. He dreamt that he was falling, very fast, towards a spike pit filled with corpses. He awake with a yell as he hit the bottom.

Elias wiped the cold sweat from his face. It was only a dream. Elias looked out of his tent and saw that the snow had melted and it was raining. Climate changed fast. Elias sat up in his make shift bed and everything came flooding back at him. Ben was dead. Elias felt a lump in his throat beginning to form. He stood up and snapped in his armor. He left the tent and walked over to Matt who was siiting on a huge rock and looking off into the distance.

"Hello Elias," Matt said. "Sleep well?"

"As well as anyone who's lost his best friend," Elias replied quietly. The lump in his throat grew. Matt wisely stayed silent and watched the rain fall around them.

"When's our next mission?" Elias asked.

"Tonight, at dusk," Matt replied. Elias looked at his watch. It was noon.

"You're probably starved," Matt said jumping down form the rock. "Come on, let's find some food." Elias followed Matt towards the center of the camp. Elias looked around at the marines around him and saw despare written on their faces. They had all heard what had happened yesterday.

Elias and Matt walked over to a stack of supplies and they each took three plastic containers. They walked back over to the rock and sat down on it. Elias tore open a container and ate the contents. He didn't taste much, he didn't feel hungry, only sadness. When they were finished with their meal, Elias asked Matt, "Do know where I can wash?"

"There's a waterfall about quarter of a mile north of here. It's cold, but it'll do the job." Elias grabbed a M6D pistol and started walking. So much had happened since he had escaped from the Pilliar. So much death. He still couldn't believe Ben was dead. Why hadn't he told him to stay at the camp! Because of Elias's stupidness, Ben had bled to death and there was nothing he could do about it.

The camp was out of sight now and Elias could hear the sounds of falling water. Soon enough, a small waterfall came into view. It was about a ten foot waterfall that came down into a large pool of water. Elias tore off his armor and clothes and jumped in. The water was frigid. Elias gasped as his body broke the surface. He didn't care though, he was dirty and bloody and tired. He stood under the waterfall and let the grime wash off him along with his fatigue. As he was about to get out, he heard a strange noise come from the forest around him. It was like a gurgle bark. Elias looked around and saw nothing. The sound came again, that odd liquidy bark, this time closer. Elias swam over and his behind the falls just as something burst out from the under growth.

Elias had never seen anything like it before. It stood on two legs like a man, it's skin was tanish. It's two arms were two different legths, one was shaped like a human arm, except with only three fingers, the other arm though, was long and it had three whip like fingers that were at least two feet each. Its head was what scared Elias though. It looked like a human head, except it was twisted and the mouth remained permenatly open. Crusty growth grew from its neck and the head was bent at an unnatural position. Its eyes were gone and dark brown crusted eye sockets stared at nothing.

The creature stopped at Elias's clothes and armor. It kicked away the armor and tore up the threw the clothes into the water. Then it saw the pistol. It let out a gurgling bark and grabbed the gun with its good hand then it ran back off into the forest. Elias waited a good ten minuets before leaving the safety of the waterfall. He fished out his clothes from the pool and wrung them out before putting them back on. He snatched up his armor and put it on before sprinting back to the camp.

As soon as he got there he found Matt and said, "Did anything happen while I was gone?"

Matt looked puzzled, "Uhhh, nothing great. Why? What happened?"

Elias took a deep breath, " I don't know. It could have been nothing. I saw this…_thing_….in the woods. It was like a mutated man."

Matt shivered, "Ew. Sounds nasty. What did it do?"

"Nothing. It kicked my clothes around and-wait-it took my pistol."

"That's odd. Glad I wan't there. I would've feaked," Matt said. Elias nodded, "It was weird."

The rest of the afternoon Elias spent cleaning his armor and guns. As the sun was just starting to set, Sergeant Johnson walked up to Elias and asked, "You coming along son?" Elias stood up, "On the mission? Hell yea."

Johnson smiled, "Well then get your ass over to the Pelicans. We leave in two!" Elias grabbed his stuff and hurried over to the Pelican that was taking off in two minuets. Matt was already in the ship and Elias saw that he was holding a rocket launcher.

Elias sat down next to him, "Where'd you get that?"

Matt glanced at him, "I found it among the stuff we brought back from the Pillar of Autumn. Here you can use this if you like." Elias caught the shotgun that Matt tossed him.

Elias grinned, "Thanks Matt. This will come in handy I'm sure." To Elias's surprise, Captain Keyes climbed into the back of the ship, along with Johnson.

"You coming along for the ride?" Matt asked Keyes.

"I can't stand just sitting in the caves and wondering who's going to die next," Keyes said as he put on his seat restraint.

"That's understandable," Elias said quietly. Outside the rain began to fall again and a cold clammy fog rolled over the land below as the Pelican took off and flew over the land below.

"What is our objective?" One marine asked.

Keyes answered, "We think that there is some weapon here on Halo, that could change the tides of this war."

"A weapon sir?" Another marine asked.

"Yes, I weapon. Something powerful enough that the Covenant are concerned we'll find it. I have no idea what it could be, but if the Covenant are scared we'll find it, then I intend to."

_What kind of weapon could possibly change tides of the war?_ Elias thought. The land drifted silently below them and Elias saw that the fog had completely covered the ground. The rain had stopped coming down in sheets and now was drizzling.

About a half hour later, Johnson annouced, "We're getting close to our destination. We

need-" A clattering eruption cut Johnson off in mid-sentence. Purple plasma fire seered the sides of the Pelican and tore through its sheets of metal.

"Not again," Elias mumbled as he held onto his seat. The ship was dropping fast and the plasma fire didn't stop. The smell of buring metal filled Elias's nostrils and he grimaced and braced for the impact.

The Pelican bounced and skidded, still going at tremendous speeds, and Elias saw a marine's neck snap at the jolt. With a loud grinding sound, the ship did a vicious spin and Elias heard a snap and saw that the edge of his armor had cut through his and Matt's restraints. Elias felt time slow down as he and Matt were thrown from the back off the ship and fly through the air and come crashing down onto the wet ground.

Elias yelled as his body bounced and rolled, coming to a stop, facefirst, in a stream. He pulled his head out of the freezing water and clutched his sides trying to regain his breath that had been smashed out of him. His side was on fire; his ribs must be re-broken. Elias stood and looked around for Matt. He was no where to be seen. Elias felt alone. The terran was dreary. It was a foggy, dark, and drizzling and he was in a swampy looking place.

Elias shivered. He had to find Matt. He started walking when he found his assault rifle, twisted and smashed against a rock. Elias felt insecure without his gun. He contiued on, wincing with every step, and he passed a large structure of rocks and that's when he heard groaning.

Behind on of the rocks lay Matt, his face bloody and his armor severly dented.

"Matt! Are you okay? Can you move?" Elias asked.

"Ohhh, my arm. I think my arm is broken. I got lucky, I bounced right over these rocks and landed here. Help me up," Elias grabbed Matt's good arm and pulled him up.

"Can you walk?" Elias asked. Matt nodded and asked, "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it. I have no clue where the ship went," Elias answered. The two started to walk when Elias exclaimed, "Look!" Matt looked and saw Elias's shotgun, laying in some folage. Elias grabbed it and smiled, "Well at least we have a weapon. I feel a bit better."

They wandered on then, looking for signs of the ship, but finding none. The rain kept coming and the two marines knew that they were lost.

"This isn't good," Matt said sitting down in a rock. Elias touched his side and winced. His ribs were definatly broken.

"We need to get some where," Matt said.

"Where Matt? We're lost! We'd be getting somewhere, but we don't know where anything is!" Elias yelled. He hated explaining the obvious.

"No need to get all pissy. I'm just talking this out," Matt said defensivly. Elias started pacing.

Suddenly Elias stopped. He had heard that gurgling bark. He raised his shotgun and scanned the folage.

"What now?" Matt asked rolling his eyes.

"Shut up!" Elias whispered fiercly, "Listen!" Matt rolled his eyes again and said, "For what? Th-" The gurgling bark cut him off. Matt jumped up looking scared, "What was that?"

Elias didn't answer. He was scared to death. He knew what it was.The bark came again, closer this time. Elias could hear something running through the undergrowth. Suddenly the creature came into view and Matt let out a scream. Elias aimed at the beast and pulled the trigger. The thing blew apart into a million pieces, splattering green blood over the ground.

Elias turned to Matt, "Did you just scream?" Matt looked embarresed, "Hey, I don't have a friggin shotgun in my hands ok?" Elias shook his head, "Whatever, come on. We need to move on."

"What was that?" Matt asked wringing his hands.

Elias didn't stop walking, "I don't know. That's what I saw at the waterfall though. It might be the same one, but it might not. I don't know."

Matt stilled seemed on edge. They continued to walk for a while when Elias said, "Matt look. There's some kind of structure ahead of us!" Matt strained his eyes and saw that Elias was right. There was some kind of metalic thing up ahead. They trotted the rest of the way and came to a halt at a small clearing. What Elias saw amazed him. It was a spacecraft. A small three person space craft. It had one window in it and it was perfectly round.

"Where did this come from!" Matt asked in amazment.

"I think," Elias said slowly, "I think this came from the Pillar of Autumn. I have no idea how it got here, but I'm pretty sure that's where it came from."

Matt walked around it and scratched his head, "It looks like it's still operational. Here's the hatch." Matt tugged on the small door and it popped open. He ducked his head inside and said, "Everything looks fine."

"So what do we do?" Elias asked.

Matt stood up and scratched his chin, "Hmmm…I don't know. We should see if it's still working and get out of here."

"Yea, but do you know how to work this thing?" Elias asked.

"I took a semester in piloting two years ago. I forgot most of it, but I think I could get this baby cooking in no time."

Elias rolled his eyes, "Ok chief dick head, you see what you can do and I'm sure everyone back at camp will award you as their god."

Matt's head snapped up, "Camp? We're not going back to camp. We're going home. Back to Earth."

Elias took a step forward, "What? I don't think so. We're going back to camp and saving everybody."

"We can't Elias! This ship does't have enough space! This is are only way out! Do you really think that anyone survived that crash anyway?"

"We did!" Elias retorted.

Matt shook his head again, "There's not enough space."

Elias knew Matt was right. Though he hated abanding his mates. He felt like a coward, but he knew that Matt was completely right.

"Alright," he said quietly. Matt nodded and continued to prep the ship for take off. Elias crawled inside and sat down in one of the three seats. It was cramped inside and small. Matt was flicking switches now and the control panel lit up.

"Exelent," Matt said rubbing his hands together. He flicked a couple more switches and a rumbling pur shook the ship.

"Engines work!" Matt said excitedly. Elias said nothing.

"We have enough fuel to make it to Earth too!" Matt exclaimed feeling hope. Elias pulled on his restraint.

"Ok, give the engines a sec to warm up," Matt said, half talking to himself.

"Isn't there any way?" Elias asked suddenly.

Matt sighed, "I sorry Elias. You know as well as I that we simply don't have enough room. This is not a cowardly thing to do. We had a very slim chance of escaping the marsh until we found this. And even if we did have enough room, I don't know where the camp is. I wasn't paying attention to where we were going and you probably didn't either."

It struck Elias that Matt was right. He still felt like a coward, running like this. Matt seated himself at the pilot seat and said, "Ok Elias. Let's go home."

Elias felt the ship rising and the deck beneath him shook. He prayed the ship would hold together. They were picking up speed now and Matt said, "Pray we make it out of the atmosphere!"

Elias closed his eyes and gripped the barrel of his shotgun as he felt the ship heat around him. After a few seconds of intense praying, Matt let out a whoop.

"Yah! We made it! Yessss!" He turned around and smiled at Elias, "We're going home buddy! We're going home!"


End file.
